Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Zhang Zhili) news: On November 10, 2025, in Kumubostan Village, Gaizikumu Township, Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, located on the northern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, northwest China's Xinjiang, villager Qin Liangmei received a phone call from a relative in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The relative advised him, "Your child has already graduated from university and is working in the south. Why are you still staying near the desert?"

"You don't know about Shaya. It's completely different from when I first arrived 30 years ago. After one ecological greenbelt after another was established, the sand dunes near the village have been stabilized. I really like it here. I earn money by participating in desert control, so I can't bear to leave," Qin Liangmei told his relative. Recently, he has been going every day to the haloxylon forests that extend into the desert to harvest Cistanche, earning around 400 yuan in labor fees per day.

Shaya County has a desertified land area of 27,000 square kilometers, accounting for 84.69 percent of its total territorial area, making it a crucial battleground in the defense against the encroachment of the Taklimakan Desert along the Hexi Corridor. The county's overall mission for the defense campaign at the edge of the Taklimakan Desert from 2024 to 2030 spans 3,953,200 mu (about 263,547 hectares), exceeding the national "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program Phase VI task by 129.03 percent and constituting over 50 percent of the total mission in the Aksu Prefecture. In addition to the greenbelts created by the ongoing forestry and grassland ecological restoration projects, other green initiatives such as the "Photovoltaic Great Wall" along the desert's edge, the straw checkerboard sand-fixation projects along desert highways, and the ecological restoration projects in the upper reaches of the Tarim River wetlands are also becoming increasingly dense. These ambitious undertakings are painting a magnificent picture of ecological conservation and economic development advancing hand in hand.

Photo taken on October 23, 2025 shows Qin Liangmei harvests Cistanche in a saxaul forest in Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Zhang Zhili)

Diversified practices explore new models for desert control

"We absolutely love cycling in Shaya because no matter how far we ride, we can enjoy the breathtaking scenery of deserts intertwined with rivers, lakes, poplar trees, and tamarisk shrubs along the way," said Tursungjan Buleke, a participant from Urumqi at the 2025 China Cycling Tour Conference (Lake Series) and the Road Cycling Race in Shaya County, Aksu, Xinjiang, held on October 18, 2025.

Qiang Limin, a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Shaya County and Director of the Poplar Forest Protection Center, stated that visitors to Shaya can experience the harmonious integration of various natural elements, which is attributable to the county's recent efforts in coordinating the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts.

Yibulayimu Aheniyazi, the head of the Dalangtangmu Management and Protection Station under the Shaya County Poplar Forest Protection Center, along with his wife, has been safeguarding the poplar forest for over a decade. After the introduction of floodwater from the Tarim River into the poplar forest area, many withered trees have revived, effectively halting the advance of the desert. Since 2016, Shaya County has secured a total of 1.043 billion cubic meters of ecological water, constructed over 200 kilometers of flood diversion channels, cleared silt for a cumulative length of 398 kilometers, and irrigated more than 3.5 million mu (about 233,333 hectares) of poplar forest.

At the low-carbon transformation new energy project base of the 250,000-kilowatt photovoltaic industrial park in Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, developed by Power Construction Corporation of China, layers of photovoltaic panels unfold like a vast blue ocean, creating a striking contrast with the yellow expanse of the desert in the distance. In 2023, the local area began exploring a new model of photovoltaic desert control, pioneering a path of integrated development between green energy and ecological governance. The project leader explained that installing photovoltaic panels at the edge of the desert not only generates electricity but also effectively reduces surface wind speed, mitigates wind erosion, and decreases surface water evaporation, thereby facilitating the growth of desert vegetation.

In addition to the natural barrier formed by the over 200-kilometer stretch of the Tarim River, the over 100-kilometer straw checkerboard barrier along both sides of the desert highway, and the ever-expanding photovoltaic panel barrier with increasing installed capacity, there is another increasingly impressive barrier at the edge of the desert in Shaya—the haloxylon forest. Currently, the area of artificially planted haloxylon forests in Shaya County has reached 280,000 mu (about 18,667 hectares). Starting from 2026, the county will leverage the national "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program Phase VI to initiate the construction of an additional 320,000 mu (about 21,333.33 hectares) of haloxylon forests, ultimately aiming to establish itself as a model county for the sand industry with a million mu of haloxylon forests.

Photo taken on October 23, 2025 shows a R&D personnel works on the development of deep-processed products from Cistanche deserticola at the biotechnology laboratory of Shaya Golden Poplar Modern Agricultural Industry Development Group Co., Ltd., in Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Zhang Zhili)

Multi-stakeholder participation in building a green barrier for our homeland

On October 23, 2025, Ren Penghui stood amidst a towering haloxylon forest belt, watching workers excavate roots of Cistanche from the base of the haloxylon plants. A look of hard-earned joy spread across his face.

Ren Penghui is the general manager of Shaya County Moxin Development Co., Ltd. He originally ran a supermarket in the county town of Shaya. During a trip to Alxa League, Inner Mongolia, in 2010, he was deeply impressed by the vast expanses of haloxylon forests there. "The small haloxylon plants were effectively intercepting the drifting sands from the three major deserts—Badain Jaran, Tengger, and Ulan Buh. Moreover, the farmers and herders were becoming prosperous by inoculating Cistanche at the roots of the haloxylon plants. I thought I could do the same in Shaya!" he recalled.

Ren Penghui and his friends ventured into the desert adjacent to Gaizikumu Township to level sand dunes and plant haloxylon trees. The desert was a harsh environment. Strong winds threatened to overturn their makeshift prefab houses if not properly secured, and the lack of fresh water meant they had to rely on bitter and salty underground water for irrigation and travel five kilometers to a nearby village for drinking water. Roads were nonexistent, with car tires wearing out within a year, forcing them to rely on foot in areas inaccessible by vehicle.

The substantial initial investment nearly overwhelmed Ren Penghui and his friends, pushing them to the brink of giving up. However, driven by a deep-seated passion for protecting their green homeland and bolstered by significant support from Shaya County in terms of infrastructure development, policy subsidies, and technical guidance, they gradually began to reap rewards. Today, through the method of inoculating Cistanche to sustain the forest, their company has cultivated over 20,000 mu (about 1,333 hectares) of haloxylon forest and plans to expand this to 70,000 mu (about 4,666.67 hectares) during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.

Wang Kaiyan, a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Shaya County and deputy director of the Poplar Forest Protection Center, introduced that currently, over 10 business entities in Shaya County have participated in desert afforestation efforts. The promising prospects of the sand industry have motivated an increasing number of people to actively engage in the cause of transforming the vast desert into a green and profitable landscape.

Photo taken on May 1, 2025 shows a staff member (right) from Shaya Moxin Development Co., Ltd. introduces the blooming situation of Cistanche deserticola to s local official in Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Zhang Zhili)

Multi-product R&D to expand the scope of the desert industry

Shaya County has made great efforts to expand the scope of its desert industry.

Xinjiang Xiancaorong Technology Co., Ltd., which has established a desert plant industrial park in the southern desert area of Gaizikumu Township, collaborates with universities such as Shihezi University and Xinjiang Agricultural University to promote the integration of postgraduate practical bases with desert industry bases as well as technological breakthroughs and product R&D. Currently, the company possesses advanced technologies such as ecological cultivation and seed breeding of Cistanche deserticola, and has achieved breakthroughs in key technologies for the full mechanization of Cistanche deserticola cultivation.

Shaya Xingya Agricultural Irrigation Water Co., Ltd. has successfully converted brackish water into agricultural irrigation water through technological means, enabling the trial planting of winter wheat and achieving a bumper harvest. Shaya Moxin Development Co., Ltd. has set up a processing plant in the Circular Economy Industrial Park of Shaya County, laying the groundwork for the deep processing of Cistanche deserticola.

In the biotechnology laboratory of Shaya Golden Poplar Modern Agricultural Industry Development Group Co., Ltd., the R&D team, leveraging the dual properties of Cistanche deserticola as both a medicinal and edible herb, has not only developed a series of products including Cistanche deserticola slices, powders, and alcoholic beverages but also created Cistanche deserticola essential oils and skincare products.

Nowadays, Shaya County adheres to the principle of protecting while developing and developing while protecting for the desert poplars, promoting the brand of poplar culture and enabling the increasingly lush poplar forests to more effectively block the sandstorms. The industrial chain along the photovoltaic panel barrier zone is also extending, with a new model of ecological sand control established through the triple defense line of "photovoltaic panels + straw checkerboard barriers + bordering forests," achieving dual benefits of efficient utilization of solar energy resources in desert areas and transforming deserts into oases.

"In the future, Shaya County will continue to increase its support for the desert industry, relying on its status as a model county for the autonomous region-level million-mu characteristic desert industry project, and strive to build a nationally important demonstration base for the desert industry and a key ecological function demonstration zone in Xinjiang," said Qiang Limin.

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